Araminta stubbornly held her silence, and Reginald shook his head. “Why would I kill Father? For the money, right? But you must know I don’t inherit anything yet. Stephanie and I will have trusts, of course, but neither of us inherit right away. It’s in Father’s will. He made sure of it.”
When Araminta continued to remain silent, Reggie continued, “Yes, Father assured his children were provided for in the future. But right now? Maybe you should have a chat with our dear sweet beloved new stepmom, Aunt Minta. She’s the one who gets everything.”
In her room again, Araminta went over everything Reginald had said. She even called Jed’s Pawn Shop in town to confirm that what he’d said about trying to sell the goblets was true. It was. Apparently he had been successful in selling several other Moorecliff treasures, though. Araminta would have to get them back, but she had more pressing matters right now. She was back at square one… with lots more questions and still no answers. Would she ever figure out who killed her nephew?
She thought of Jacob Hershey, Ivan’s grandfather, and sighed. Back in the day, this was where she would have gone downtown for a visit to needle him about how poorly he conducted his job because he’d missed a clue or two.
A wistful smile ghosted her lips as she recalled how those visits always got his dander up, but he’d also always kicked his investigations into high gear afterward. Only she couldn’t call Jacob now because he was no longer active on the force. No, there was only the grandson these days, and she wasn’t sure he would be able to piece together the clues as Jacob could. Which made her even more certain that it was up to her to find the killer.
Besides, she thought, the facts were all already there. Archie was poisoned. Someone had killed him with a convallatoxin cocktail. All she had to do was figure out who.
Araminta went to the window and looked out over the garden, where the lily of the valley was still in bloom. Daisy had been there the night before Archie’s murder—with a man. Yes, Araminta was certain of this, although Daisy had lied and said it wasn’t true. And Reggie was right about Daisy having motive. Daisy had told her so herself. Archie’s will would leave her everything.
But of course, Daisy already benefitted from all of Archie’s money, so the only reason to kill him would be to get him out of the way. Had Daisy killed her husband so that she could be with the mysterious man she’d met in the garden?
If Daisy was Archibald’s killer, how had she administered the poison? How could she have gotten it into his drink or his food? She’d already been seated next to Archie when the food came up.
Seated next to Archie. The purse! Araminta had never understood why Daisy felt she needed those things inside the house, but she’d developed a habit of having one with her wherever she was. A purse was a perfect place to hide things. If she had secreted a vial of the convallatoxin inside her purse, could she have slipped it into his food or wine when nobody was looking?
It would have been risky, but maybe if she was clever. Come to think of it, her new outfit did have long flowing sleeves that could have hidden any sleight of hand.
But Daisy seemed to be truly in love with Archie. Araminta couldn’t imagine her killing him and especially in such an awful manner. Which brought everything back to Harold and Trinity. But what motive would either of them have?
A glance at the clock reminded her it was time for lunch, but with a murderer still afoot and given the circumstances, she wasn’t sure she was ready for food.
Chapter Ten
Araminta couldn’t help but notice as she descended the stairs, her hand gliding along the smooth, familiar wood of the handrail, that the rest of the family must be having similar concerns about eating in the dining room. It was only yesterday that dear Archibald had died in there, after all. But since then, rather than going into the room to be seated and converse while they waited for food, everyone had gathered in the front parlor, which was exactly where they all were now.
Even Bernard was there, Araminta noticed, but as busy as ever. He was on his cell phone, chatting with the West Coast office. Both Reginald and Bernard stood up to greet her as she walked into the room.
Before she could acknowledge the greeting, however, the front doorbell pealed. She turned to search for Harold. Daisy found him first and hurried over to let him know he should answer the door.
“Steph! Oh, Stephanie, I am so glad to see you,” Reginald called in surprise the minute their newly arrived guest stepped through the front door. “I wasn’t aware you were coming so early, sister, but I’m so glad you are here. Don’t read too much into this or take it as sibling affection or anything, but I think I may actually have missed you.”
Stephanie Moorecliff was in her mid-twenties and an attractive girl, tall and slim with honey-blond hair and hazel eyes. She had a regal air about her that reminded Araminta of herself at that age. She handed the parcels she’d been carrying to Harold and rushed into the room, her arms outstretched to receive a hug of greeting and a bit of consolation from her brother.
“Oh, Reggie, how horrible! How could this happen? I’ve been overwrought since the moment I got the news.”
Araminta couldn’t help but notice Reggie seemed a tad uncomfortable holding his younger sibling in his arms, but still, he attempted to comfort her. “There, there. All will be well soon. But did they tell you he didn’t pass of natural causes?”
Stephanie’s eyes flew to her stepmother, and Araminta could see the barely shuttered hostility in her gaze. “Daisy called me, and yes, she did tearfully confess that our father was poisoned.”
Daisy’s back went straight, and her warm smile of greeting faded. “‘Confess’ is kind of an odd word to use, but the news that anyone would wish your father’s death so much that they would stoop to committing murder is difficult for all of us.”
Bernard seemed to sense the tension between Stephanie and Daisy, because he stepped in to defuse the situation. “We’re waiting for the police to tell us more, Stephanie. Detective Hershey is leading the investigation. Until then, we are all still family and grieving together over the loss of dear Archibald. But let’s not dwell on such sad news when you’ve been away for so long. How have you been?”
“Fine.” Steph seemed distracted and didn’t elaborate. Her eyebrows drew together. “Old Jacob Hershey is looking into matters? But… isn’t he retired from the force now? I could have sworn I heard he’d left the department several years back, but I must confess I’ll feel better knowing he’s taking care of the investigative side of things.”
“Oh, not Jacob, darling,” Daisy hurriedly informed her. “It’s his grandson Ivan now. He’s doing a wonderful job of looking into things.”
Stephanie took the news with only a slight cut of her eyes to her uncle then back to her stepmother.
Araminta thought it sad how the girl didn’t want to acknowledge her as part of their family. Daisy had loved their father very much. At least, Araminta believed she had. And Archie, well, Daisy had become his world. She was his everything.
Arun and Sasha chose that moment to descend upon the family. Stephanie scooped up one cat then the other and hugged them both close as she rubbed her face into their fur and murmured a happy hello to each of them affectionately. Then she turned to Araminta.